Thursday, November 7, 2024
Weird Stuff

Vampire bats sprint on treadmill as study shows special way they use blood for energy – Black Country Radio

Thursday, 7 November 2024 15:07
Vampire bats have been put on a treadmill as a study showed the special way they use blood for energy – as well as how quickly they can run.
Footage shows one bat using its wings to sprint along inside a plastic box at up to 30 metres per minute.
The vampire bat is one of only a few species that can manoeuvre skilfully on land.
It uses this ability to quietly approach sleeping prey, such as cattle, pigs and chickens, before making an incision with its razor-sharp teeth.
Twenty-four vampire bats were captured from Belize and fed enriched cows’ blood for the Canadian study.
Researchers looked at the carbon dioxide they exhaled on the treadmill and found traces of amino acids, the building blocks of protein.
The ratio of CO2 to oxygen (respiratory exchange ratio) stayed the same at all speeds.
It suggests the bats’ main source of energy was their protein-rich blood meal, rather than the stored carbohydrate and fat primarily used by most other mammals.
Researchers say it shows “how strongly metabolism can be shaped by a specialized diet” as the diet of vampire bats is relatively low in carbohydrate and fat.
Common vampire bats are only about 7-9cm long but can double their weight after one blood-sucking feeding session.
Read more from Sky News:
Locals warned to lock doors as 40 monkeys escape lab
US talk show host on verge of tears after Trump win

They emerge at night, using sonar to navigate and detecting prey using heat sensors in their face. A strong anticoagulant in their saliva stops the blood of their prey from clotting during a meal.
The study, by Giulia Rossi at McMaster University and Kenneth Welch from University of Toronto, is published in the journal Biology Letters.
Sky News
(c) Sky News 2024: Vampire bats sprint on treadmill as study shows special way they use blood for energy
Some of the victims buried in Pompeii following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius have been wrongly identified, new evidence suggests.
HS2 is spending more than £100m on a "shed" to protect bats on a section of the line, even though there is "no evidence that high-speed trains interfere with bats", the project company's chairman has said. 
Forty monkeys have escaped from a research facility in South Carolina.
An Australian Olympian, whose breakdancing routine at the Paris Games went viral, says she will no longer compete.
A large crowd of people were duped into lining the streets of Dublin for a Halloween parade that did not exist.
Tracker dogs and drones are scouring the Isle of Wight for four escaped female raccoons.
"Amateurish" thieves have made off with a screen print of Queen Elizabeth II by Andy Warhol as part of a botched gallery heist in the Netherlands.
A squirrel that became famous on social media has been euthanised after being seized in a raid by New York authorities.
That's Amore
Wheel Of Fortune
Is It Any Wonder
Americanswers… on 5 Live! Will the US ever elect a female president?
How will Keir Starmer handle Donald Trump?
The Investing & Crypto Expert: "We Only Have 6 Years Until Everything Changes!", "The S&P 500 Isn't Worth Your Time!", "Don't Keep Spare Cash In A Bank!"
Paloma Faith: How I Knew When To Leave! Our Relationship Is Better After We Split. Dating Over 40 Is Tough!

source

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *